4 DEC 2024 ( Press Ki Taquat ):
Kash Patel, who has been chosen by President-elect Trump to be the FBI director, was the target of a cyber attack linked to Iran, as reported by Semafor on Tuesday evening.
This incident highlights a troubling trend of Iranian cyber assaults aimed at Trump’s associates. Federal authorities have been looking into these allegations since the summer, and in September, they charged three Iranians for their involvement in a cyberattack on Trump’s 2024 campaign. Reports from CNN and CBS News indicate that Patel’s communications were specifically compromised during this attack. While an FBI spokesperson didn’t provide details on this particular case, they referenced a previous statement from August that acknowledged attempts to undermine Trump’s campaign, attributing these activities to Iran. In the lead-up to the 2024 election, both Microsoft and Google noted that Iran-backed hackers were conducting phishing attacks against U.S. election campaigns, and OpenAI reported shutting down several ChatGPT accounts tied to an Iranian disinformation effort. The indictment against the three individuals allegedly connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims that their cyber campaign dates back to January 2020, following Trump’s drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Iranian officials have denied these accusations and have not yet responded to the latest news. Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer stated that Patel, a key figure in the first Trump administration’s stance against Iran, would carry out Trump’s policies to safeguard America as FBI Director, although he did not elaborate on the specifics of the incident. Patel is known as a staunch MAGA supporter who previously worked on Trump’s National Security Council.
